1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a communications device having an electronic card installed therein and a method for permitting change of the electronic card, more particularly to a method for permitting change of an electronic card without powering off, and a communications device employing the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mobile communications products are becoming indispensable for modern people, and there are currently available a number of communications systems. Since conventional single-mode handsets are incapable of supporting different communications systems, dual-mode handsets, such as those supporting the PHS system and the GSM system, or even multi-mode handsets, have been developed. With the fast development of communications technology, there are also the 3G system, the 3.5G system, or even the WiFi system. Therefore, multi-mode handsets capable of operating on different communications systems are in demand.
With reference to FIG. 1, for a conventional dual-mode handset 9, a user can put two SIM (subscriber identity module) cards 81, 82 supplied by different communications system service providers in the dual-mode handset 9 so as to be able to use the services provided by two different communications systems.
The dual-mode handset 9 includes a first electrical connector 921 disposed in a circuit module 911 provided in an interior of a housing 910 thereof. The first electrical connector 921 is disposed immediately below a battery module 93 for insertion of the first SIM card 81 (primary card) thereinto. A second electrical connector 922 is disposed at a lateral side of the housing 910 for insertion of the second SIM card 82 (secondary card) thereinto.
However, to install or remove the first SIM card 81, the handset 9 has to be powered off first. Then, the battery module 93 and a back cover 912 are removed to allow installation or removal of the first SIM card 81, which is rather troublesome. For the second SIM card 82, since there is no need to remove the battery module 93, the user may forget to power off the handset 9 before installing or removing the second SIM card 82, which may result in damage to the second SIM card 82. The conventional dual-mode handset 9 is therefore undesirable in terms of user convenience.